Night In Strange House
by Spiral Breeze
Summary: The night before Ash and Co travel to Strange House in search of new ghost types, he is plagued by nightmares of the woman he loves. What do these horrific dreams mean, and should Cilan be so excited about a costume party at a completely unknown trainer's mansion?
1. Part One

**Night In Strange House: A Pokémon Fanfiction**

By Spiral Breeze

**Part One**

He of course had heard the rumors, the whisperings of passerby trainers who dared not enter the supposedly haunted house, but Ash had dealt with ghost type Pokémon before. This would be a piece of cake and when he was finished exploring, he'd be eating that cake with a nice cold glass of Moomoo Milk.

In previous exploits, Ash Ketchum had died, and had been possessed and haunted more times than he could count. What was one more adventure into the macabre? His best friends and traveling companions however, did not share his unbridled enthusiasm.

"Come on guys, it's probably just some Lit-"

"Just some Litwick?" Cilan's right eye twitched, he normally did not cut friends off in the middle of their sentences, but the connoisseur didn't have any patience for ghosts.

"I don't understand why you would want to go out of your way just to visit some old house anyway?" It was ice types that frightened Iris, so as long as the temperature remained somewhere above 65 degrees, she was just fine.

"It's not out of our way, and what if there's some new ghost Pokémon that me and Pikachu haven't seen yet? Huh?" Pikachu would have nodded, but the electric type was otherwise engaged in a very peaceful sleep.

In fact, they were all in their pajamas in a room at the Pokémon Center, a Town Map spread out on the desk, deciding where their next destination lie, yet Cilan and Iris had no desire for ghosts to be on that road. It was beginning to get late, and they all let out a series of staggered yawns. Iris walked back to her bed carrying a dozing Axew in her arms.

"I'm too tired to argue Ash (yawn) we'll figure this out in the morning." She climbed into her bed and pulled the covers over her and Axew's heads. Cilan muttered a goodnight, muffled behind yet another yawn.

Ash sighed, and glanced at his partner who twitched his ears and tail in his sleep. He left the map open on the desk, tracing his finger in a circle one last time over the inked in point. Both Cilan and Ash said goodnight to each other as they each turned out a bed side lamp.

~(-o-)~

"Ash please don't go!"

He thought the voice sounded familiar, but she was crying. He looked around him, but no one was in the yard. Only dead trees lined the area in front of the house. Strange House. This was it, but it really didn't look _that_ strange.

"Ash."

He nearly jumped out of his skin when an icy cold hand cupped his shoulder from behind. He turned around suddenly, arms flailing, but stopped short when he saw who it was.

"M-" His voice caught and he swallowed roughly. "Misty." The name left his lips as a whisper.

"Ash." She smiled at him.

"It's been so long."

She nodded, and as his eyes drank her in like the last drop of water in Desert Resort, he realized something was terribly wrong. Wrapped around her neck was a white lace scarf, tattered and soaked through with dark red blood.

"You're hurt, come on!" He made to grab her arm. "We-"

"Shh." She placed one icy finger against his lips, stopping any further sounds. "Please don't go in there Ash." Fresh tears fell past her cheeks.

"I don't under-"

"Shh." She hushed him again and began to remove the scarf, right before his eyes Misty faded, dematerializing into a massive dark shape. In her place stood a huge Zoroark looming over him, it's teeth sharp and glistening. The beast used Snarl, an otherworldly roar filled his ears, and Ash braced himself for the worst.

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Part Two

**Night In Strange House: A Pokémon Fanfiction**

By Spiral Breeze

**Part Two**

Ash woke up screaming, the sheets tangled around his legs and arms, drenched in an exhausted sweat.

"Pikapi!"

"Ash!"

Cilan and Iris were busy freeing him from the covers as Pikachu stood by his head, trying to calm him down. The Pokémon knew this was not the time for an electric jolt.

"Misty..." He was sobbing now.

"Ash, you're fine, every thing's okay, you're all right." Iris whispered soothingly.

It took a moment for him to realize that it had all been a very bad dream, but the touch of Misty's ice cold fingers had felt all too real, and his ears were still ringing from that horrifying Snarl attack. Cilan handed him some tissues as he sat up to dry his eyes.

"You scared us Ash, but it was just a nightmare."

"No..." His voice was gruff. "Misty... she, her neck, then Zoroark, oh Arceus!"

Iris looked at Cilan who shrugged his shoulders. They didn't know who Misty was, nor what was wrong with her neck, and what Zoroark had to do with it all.

"Here Ash, have some water." Cilan handed Ash a glass and he sipped slowly. "I think I'll make some tea, that always calms me down."

Cilan, ever the resourceful one, Ash knew a cup of tea was not a cure all but he didn't dare tell the green haired young man.

"So, who's Misty?"

Ash blushed, yet there was still a haunted look in his eyes.

"A friend from Kanto." He stated simply, cupping the glass of cool water in both hands. His eyes followed Cilan as he prepared three cups of tea, methodically, orderly, neatly, as he always did every task, with a hint of OCD sprinkled somewhere over the top, like when he sprinkled cinnamon on a cappuccino.

"So what happened in your dream?" The dragon trainer was known for her persistence.

"She..." His words faltered, and his right hand settled on Pikachu's head, scratching him between the ears, more for support than to pet the electric mouse's furry body.

"It's ok Ash, dreams can mean many different things. Maybe if you tell us what you saw, I can interpret it for you." Cilan explained as he passed a cup of hot tea to both of his friends.

"Cilan, don't tell me you're also a Dream Connoisseur." Iris rolled her eyes at the very notion before taking a sip of her tea.

"That would be correct."

"Oh brother."

"Axewww." Apparently the small dragon type agreed.

Without having to be prompted, Ash told Cilan everything he remembered about the dream, leaving out the part about how much he was head over heels like a Pansage doing backflips in love with Misty.

"I see." The connoisseur muttered when Ash was finished. He scratched his chin in contemplation. "So, I gather you really... care for Misty."

_Touché Cilan, touché. _He had chosen his words with, _care_. It was one more thing Iris could roll her eyes at.

"Well, you know what this means right?" Cilan asked as if it were the most obvious answer in all of Unova.

"Uh..."

"We're steering quite clear of that haunted house."

"What? No way!" In an instant Ash was up and out of bed and searching wildly for last nights discarded clothes. "How do I know Misty isn't in there trapped or hurt or-"

"_Or_, she could be in Kanto..." Iris pointed to the digital alarm clock on the night stand. "I don't know, sleeping, unlike the rest of us."

Ash stopped, one sneaker falling from his clutched arms. It was 4:35 in the morning. Now he felt really embarrassed waking everyone up from their sleep with his screaming and crying. He let the rest of his clothes and the other sneaker drop to the foot of his bed and sat down heavily, causing Pikachu to bounce.

"Ash, pardon my saying this, but you have a terrible tendency to just jump to conclusions." Cilan explained calmly after a sip of tea. "Why don't we get a few more hours of sleep, get up, have breakfast, and you can call Misty and find out how she's doing, I'm sure she's fine."

Ash noticed how the Gym Leader was completely avoiding the subject of the nightmare, he wondered what he was really thinking. He sighed and crawled to the top of his bed, pulling the covers over himself.

"Try to get some sleep ok Ash? All this talk of ghosts last night has set your imagination running faster than Chili slices onions."

The lights were turned off again and everyone, including two small Pokémon settled back into their beds. Ash tried to settle down, steady his breathing and calm his heart rate, but Arceus help Cilan if he was wasting precious seconds by not rescuing Misty!

**~ (-o-) ~**

It was nine in the morning when Ash woke up feeling groggy as if he hadn't slept at all. He was alone in the room, even his best partner Pikachu was nowhere to be seen. He remembered his nightmare and shuddered. He needed to call Misty, but what would he say? "Sorry I haven't so much as emailed you, but out of curiosity have you been bitten by a Pokémon recently and turned into a were-Zoroark?" Obviously not. It was a sickening feeling and now to top it off he felt abandoned by his friends. The ebony haired trainer sighed and threw the covers off himself. He quickly got dressed and made his way out to the lobby of the Pokémon Center to see where everyone was.

He was surprised to find that instead of a beautiful autumn day with clear blue skies, and crisp cool wind, a storm was raging outside, and the windows had sheets of water streaming down. Ash spotted everyone by a ground of window seats, Cilan looked deep in thought, while Iris had Pikachu and Axew on her lap talking to three trainers in hushed tones, who had obviously just come in from the storm.

"Uh... hey guys."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu scampered up his arm and hugged him tightly.

"Glad to see you too buddy."

"Ash, sit down, listen to this."

He took an empty seat next to Iris and surveyed the three drenched trainers, they looked like they had endured quite a bit. The boy who had stopped speaking when Ash came over glanced around the room and continued, keeping his voice low.

"So, we went inside, I wasn't even thinking straight, this place just kinda sucks you in like a vacuum or something, I don't know. The whole place is one giant maze, and I swear to Arceus Almighty, stuff was moving, I don't know if it was a Pokémon doing it or what, but we didn't find out. Our C-Gear went dead even though it was fully charged, and then we heard..." The boy looked to his friends for support.

"A Pokémon couldn't have made that sound." A girl with blond hair whispered, she looked frightened.

The three friends nodded and the second boy spoke, he looked a few years older.

"I've never heard anything like it in my life, and I've been traveling a long time." He shivered under his heavy Mareep wool blanket. "Whatever made that noise... it, it was pure evil."

"We don't know what happened after we heard it, but we woke up outside, all our Pokémon gone, our electronic equipment smashed." Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. "My best partner... gone."

"I'm sorry." Ash mumbled, he couldn't even imagine loosing Pikachu, he held the Pokémon in his arms closer, and without even thinking he was on his feet again staring out the window to the storm beyond. "I'll do it, I'll get them back, all of them."

"Ash are you crazy?" Cilan suddenly yelled. "We need to contact Officer Jenny."

He shook his head.

"I'm going. The sound they heard was probably the same sound from my dream, someone is out there in that house stealing people's Pokémon and they're using a stupid old legend to get away with it! I'm not gonna stand around and let it happen."

"Is he serious?" The blond girl asked.

"Yeah, he gets like that." Iris shook her head. "Such a kid."

"Call me what you'd like, but I'm going."

"He's brave." The first boy said, wiping his tears.

"Stupid is more like it, I wouldn't go back to Strange House if it were the last place on Earth, I'm calling the authorities."

"Hmm." Cilan seemed to finally have come out of his own thoughts. "Ash, did you call your friend in Kanto?"

"Mist-" His attention to the people in front of him was suddenly gone, and he ran silently to the video phones and dialed the number for the Cerulean Gym. After just one ring Daisy picked up.

"Like hello?

"Uh... hi Daisy, remember me?" He let out a nervous laugh as realization suddenly dawned on Daisy's face.

"Ash Ketchum! It's been like forever, how are you?"

"Fine-"

"You probably like wanna talk with Misty, but she's like not here, she left a few days ago for a totally fancy Halloween party in the Unova region."

"She's here?"

"Here? Wait, like you're in Unova?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, like maybe you can like meet up with her before the party tomorrow!"

"Did she say what town she was going to?"

"No sorry Ash, it was a really like nice black envelope, huge too and it smelled like Sweet Scent you could totally tell that whoever is hosting it is like totally rich, me, Lily and Violet were like totally jealous, I wonder what costume she's gonna wear, like-"

"Uh..."

"My bad Ash, I'll tell ya what, I'll like give you her Xtranceiver number, and you can like call her yourself ok?"

With shaky fingers Ash took down the number on the back of a RageCandyBar wrapper. He thanked Daisy and headed back to Cilan and Iris, the three trainers were in another part of the lobby talking with two Officer Jenny's, one looked like a detective.

"So, now that you're not running off to Strange House in search of stolen Pokémon, how is Misty?" Cilan asked with a small smile.

He took a deep breath.

"She's here in Unova, I don't know where, but I need to borrow your Xtransceiver."

"Can I at least get a please?" Now Cilan was teasing him.

"Cilan, can I please borrow your Xtransceiver... please?" He added another one just in case.

Ash snatched the device out of his hands without a thank you, and ran back to a more quiet corner. He dialed the trainer code with mounting anxiety.

"Come on, come on, pick up... pick up!"

_The trainer you have reached is out of the service area, please try your call again later._

"Shit!"

Reluctantly, Ash walked back to Cilan, he made to hand the Xtransceiver back to him, when he realized that the older boy's hands were occupied with a rather large fancy looking black envelope, the smell of Sweet Scent was unmistakably drifting to his nose.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Part Three

**Night In Strange House: A Pokémon Fanfiction**

By Spiral Breeze

**Part Three**

"Where did you get that?" Ash asked staring at the black stationary with trepidation. Pikachu looked as if he was ready to shock the envelope to bits.

"Nurse Joy said it was just delivered for me. I've been invited to a Halloween party." Cilan opened the card again. "It says transport will arrive at two this afternoon, and I and my friends will be over night guests. The party is tomorrow evening and only the strongest trainers have been invited."

"Daisy said Misty was invited to a Halloween party somewhere in Unova, she described an envelope just like that, Sweet Scent and everything. Who's it from?"

"Hmm..." Cilan looked at it again, Iris peered down at the black paper as well. "It doesn't say, someone wrote in silver ink, "Signed a fellow TraiNer", and see, the 'N' is capitalized."

"It's really weird." Iris stated.

"Eww, eww." Axew nodded in agreement.

"Well, you know what this means don't you?" Cilan asked. He was beginning to get that super excited look in his eye.

"Uh..."

"It's costume time!"

Startled from Cilan's outburst, Pikachu nearly fell off Ash's shoulder.

"Oh no..." Their female companion groaned, but she seemed to be a hiding a smile. Who didn't love dressing up for Halloween?

"Wait, we don't know who this trainer is, and you've already decided to go?" Even Ash was surprised that Cilan possessed that little in rationality.

"Well, yes." Cilan looked at the envelope again, running his fingers along the clean sharp edges and sniffing the paper. "You want to go because Misty will be there." It wasn't a question.

The young man nodded in defeat.

"Well, an invitation such as this only comes once in a blue moon, this paper is exquisite, the hand written calligraphy penned by a true master of the craft! Whoever is hosting this party is very wealthy indeed, and I wont say no to such lavish hospitality, that would be rude. So! As I stated before, it's _costume_ time!"

Everything seemed to be happening at lightening speed, which Ash was otherwise used to, but there was still a nagging feeling preventing him from being truly excited. He just couldn't shake the feeling of the nightmare from his memory. Zoroark, Misty, her ice cold hands. He sighed as he listened to his best friends talk frenziedly about what costumes they would wear to the party. Perhaps that nightmare was nothing to worry about, maybe it was just that, an awful dream, and there was no need to get so worked up over it, despite how incredibly real it felt. He shivered again when he recalled those icy cold fingers.

"Nurse Joy might know where we can go to get some costumes!" Exclaimed Iris. "I hope we can find something extra cute for Axew."

"Ew?" It was the small dragon type's turn to roll his eyes.

Ash followed Cilan and Iris to the reception desk. As he absentmindedly petted Pikachu in between the ears, he allowed himself to feel some measure of excitement for the party, especially since it meant seeing Misty after all these years.

"Pikachu, what would you like to go as?" He asked his best partner, he knew Pikachu could sense his apprehension but that didn't mean he was going to prohibit the Pocket Monster from having fun on the scariest day of the calendar.

"Pi pikachu! Pika pi!"

The electric mouse pointed to a sofa in the lobby where a Harlequin, who would normally be out in the streets performing, sat reading today's paper due to the rain. Ash couldn't help but chuckle at his partner's choice. It certainly would up his cute factor; Iris might get jealous.

"Excuse me Nurse Joy, are there any places to purchase costumes in town?" Cilan, ever the gentleman.

"Last minute Halloween shopping?" She asked with a smile. "There's a party supply store down the street, but be careful out there, it's a really nasty storm. Hopefully, it clears up for tomorrow, we usually get a lot of trick or treaters."

The three friends gave their thanks and looked to the large windows of the Pokémon Center, where the wind and rain was pounding on the streets outside. Ash had seen worse storms than this. He tucked Pikachu inside his jacket and pulled down the brim of his hat.

"I'm ready if you guys are."

"Ready." Iris nodded as Axew hid in the seemingly never ending depths of her hair.

"Hmm..." Cilan glanced down at his fine leather shoes. "Thank goodness for water proofing spray."

They made a mad dash for the exit, and laughed and squealed like preschoolers let out for recess, all the way down the main street. The party shop was easy to spot, with it's ghoulish decorations outside. As they got closer however, Ash stopped dead in his tracks, his heart suddenly pounding in his chest.

"Wow! It looks so real!" Iris giggled excitedly, rain dripping down her nose.

"Yes, it _is_ very life like, but at least twice as tall!" Cilan carefully examined the huge Zoroark dummy. "This will no doubt scare many children tomorrow."

"Uh, Cilan, I think it's scaring Ash _now_."

"Ash!" The older boy ran up to his side, where he had stopped in the middle of the street, which thankfully was devoid of traffic. "It's okay Ash, it's only a dummy... just think of it as an extra large Poké Doll."

"Pika, pi?" Pikachu had left the warm confines of his trainer's jacket to perch upon his shoulder, and try to shake him out of his sudden paralysis. This time Pikachu knew a small electric jolt would be just fine. He released a small Thunderbolt, hitting Cilan as well in the process. They both cried out in surprise more than pain, and Ash tried to laugh it off.

"Ha ha! Th-thanks P-pikachu." He was still very much shaken.

"As long as you're all right Ash." Cilan said with a slight grimace from the shock.

Pikachu nodded and proceeded to apologize to his friends, looking properly embarrassed about forgetting the torrential downpour.

"Yeah, I'm fine... it's just, the one in my dream, that's how big the Zoroark was."

"Come on! Axew and I are getting drenched!" Iris called before she entered the party store.

"Axew ew!"

Cilan placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, leading him to the store, keeping him on the opposite side of the huge dummy. Once inside, they were greeted by a very friendly staff member who assisted them in not only finding costumes for themselves but for their Pokémon as well. Pikachu was overjoyed to find his harlequin costume, while Iris was happy to find a princess costume from one of her favorite movies. She also seemed overly enthusiastic to find the matching prince costume for Axew. Cilan found a Phantom of The Pokémon Musical costume for himself and he quickly got into character, much to Iris' annoyance. However, that emotion was quickly replaced when Cilan asked her to find something unique for Pansage to dress up as, he was thinking about The Red Fog, another movie favorite. Ash, meanwhile wandered the aisles with Pikachu on his shoulder, who clutched his costume much like he did with ketchup bottles.

The thought of the Zoroark dummy lingered in the back of his mind as he perused the store for his own costume. His eyes fell on a pirate hat and he quickly made up his mind. If he knew Misty, which he liked to think that he did, she would be dressed as a mermaid, which meant that a weather beaten pirate would be the perfect accompaniment.

"What d'ya think Pikachu?"

"Pika!" The electric mouse nodded in excitement, the prospect of getting all those Rare Candies just from dressing up was way too enticing.

Ash pulled the hanger from the shelf and carried it to the front of the store.

"Hey Ash, you find something?" Iris asked, adjusting a glittery tiara on her voluminous hair.

"Ah, a pirate? Arg!" Cilan chuckled. "Come, let's pay for these so we can get back to the Pokémon Center. The invitation stated we'll be picked up at two." He glanced at his C-Gear. "Hmm, lunch time exactly."

Both Ash and Pikachu's stomach's growled.

"I guess, those two are better time keepers when it comes to that."

They all shared a laugh as they each took turns paying for their various items. Still in giggles, they ran back to the Pokémon Center, all thankful that Ash was able to pass the huge Zoroark dummy without a second incident. After eating a befitting lunch of grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup, they gathered their belongings from their room and checked out. Cilan made it a point to stop by the Poké Mart counter in order to stock up on some much needed supplies.

"It's better to be safe than sorry." He stated ominously.

Ash nodded in understanding. This was, after all, a complete stranger's home they were going to, regardless of how many trainers and other Pokémon were going to be there.

By the time all their preparations were done, it was nearly two o'clock. They were waiting in the lobby, sitting in the window seats keeping an eye on the storm outside, when the double doors slid open. A gentleman walked to the reception desk and bowed to Nurse Joy. He must have asked a question because she pointed to where they were sitting, and as he walked over, Ash noted his unusual uniform, it was very old fashioned, by at least a century.

"Ah, good afternoon, I am Chadwick, my master's driver. Which of you is Cilan the leader of the Striation Gym?"

"That would be I." Cilan stood and bowed, at least one of them knew how to deal with formality. "These are the friends that shall accompany me."

Chadwick gave them a quick glance, and bowed to both Iris and Ash in turn.

"Very well, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

He bowed again and began to collect what few belongings they had and together with Chadwick in the lead, they walked out into the rain for the second time that day. What met their eyes however, was very much unexpected. They had believed they would be picked up by a limo, or at the very least a well appointed luxury sedan. Instead, two Zebstrika stood dripping with water, drawing between them a sleek, yet eerie looking black carriage.

The driver first helped Iris inside, then Ash and Cilan. As they took in the interior of the vehicle, they heard Chadwick fastening their bags to the covered roof rack. The inside was quite exquisite, the seats were black leather with brass fittings, a deep red jacquard wall paper lined the entire inside, and on the floor the same color Mareep wool carpet. The only lighting came from two brass oil lamps fixed to opposite sides between the windows, illuminating their wet faces in an unaccustomed glow.

"I apologize for this form of transport, however, my master is very much against technology of any sort." Chadwick made a final adjustment of the door handle, securing them all safely inside. "If you need anything during our drive, don't hesitate to pull that cord, it rings the bell, I can't hear you otherwise."

Pikachu gave a pull and they all heard a bell ring somewhere outside on the front of the carriage, one of the Zebstrika whinnied. A moment later, they heard a whistle and they were moving forward at a lively trot, the rain beating down overhead. It only took a few moments for the lull and sway of the carriage to send Ash drifting off to sleep.

**~ (-o-) ~**

"Ash, wake up!"

"Hmm..."

"Hey sleepy head!"

"Misty?"

"Who'd ya think it was?"

Ash sat up, he was slightly confused, while he was very happy to see the red head standing in front of him, he didn't recognize his surroundings when he looked around the room.

"Where are we?" He turned his head but she was gone. He heard her giggling somewhere out in the hallway.

"Misty?"

"Betcha can't catch me Ketchum!" Her sing song voice echoed.

He threw the covers off himself and walked out into the hallway, listening again for the sound of her laughter. He was inside a very old desert style mansion, like the type common in Lentimas Town. Antique solid wood beams crossed the expansive ceilings in every direction he turned. In corners stood ancient hand painted pottery and on walls hung hand woven Mareep wool tapestries in deep saturated colors. He could still hear her giggling and followed the sound into yet another large room.

"Misty?"

A girl in a white night dress was standing by the window, but it wasn't Misty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I can't find Abra."

"Um... ok, well maybe me and Misty can help you look for your Pokémon."

"That's very nice of you." She still had not turned to face him, her long brown hair seemed dull and lifeless in the morning light streaming through the window. "But, it's really no good you see."

"No, it's fine, we can help you."

"You can't help me Ash Ketchum, but I wish you could."

"I'm sorry, do I know you? I don't even know where I am." He took a step closer. "Have you seen my friend Misty?"

"Misty?" She asked, the name sounded strange on her tongue. "No, she's not here."

"Uh... I just saw her, she woke me-"

The door suddenly slammed shut behind him, causing Ash to nearly fall in surprise.

"Did you do that? What's-" He turned back to face her and the girl was standing mere inches in front of him, but it wasn't the girl with the brown hair, it was Misty, yet she looked sick and very pale.

"You can't help me Ash, because I'm already dead."

His heart seemed to plummet in his chest as Misty's hand reached for his arm, but went straight through, leaving an icy numbness in it's wake.

**To Be Continued... **


End file.
